Sid Meier's Civilization V is a 4X video game in the Civilization
series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft
Windows in September 2010,[3] on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on
Linux on June 10, 2014.
In Civilization V, the player leads a civilization from prehistoric
times into the future on a procedurally generated map, attempting to
achieve one of a number of different victory conditions through
research, exploration, diplomacy, expansion, economic development,
government and military conquest. The game is based on an entirely new
game engine with hexagonal tiles instead of the square tiles of
earlier games in the series.[5] Many elements from Civilization IV and
its expansion packs have been removed or changed, such as religion and
espionage (although these were reintroduced in its subsequent
expansions). The combat system has been overhauled, by removing
stacking of military units and enabling cities to defend themselves by
firing directly on nearby enemies.[6] In addition, the maps contain
computer-controlled city-states and non-player characters that are
available for trade, diplomacy and conquest. A civilization's borders
also expand one tile at a time, favoring more productive tiles,[7] and
roads now have a maintenance cost, making them much less common.[8]
The game features community, modding, and multiplayer elements.[5] It
is available for download on Steam.
Its first expansion pack, Civilization V: Gods & Kings, was
released on June 19, 2012, in North America and June 22
internationally. It includes features such as religion, espionage,
enhanced naval combat and combat AI, as well as nine new
civilizations.[9]
A second expansion pack, Civilization V: Brave New World, was
announced on March 15, 2013. It includes features such as
international trade routes, a world congress, tourism, great works, as
well as nine new civilizations, eight additional wonders, and three
ideologies. It was released on July 9, 2013, in North America and in
the rest of the world three days later.

Contents

1 Gameplay

1.1 City-states
1.2 Culture system
1.3 Victory
1.4 Civilizations

2 Development

2.1 LORE
2.2 Patches

3 Release
4 Additional content
5 Expansion packs

5.1 Gods & Kings
5.2 Brave New World

6 Reception
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Gameplay[edit]

A player starting location with one city and one warrior unit showing.

Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game, where each player
represents the leader of a certain nation or ethnic group
("civilization") and must guide its growth over the course of
thousands of years. It starts with the founding of a small settlement
and ends after achieving one of the victory conditions—or surviving
until the number of game turns end, at which point the highest-scoring
civilization, based on several factors, such as population, land,
technological advancement, and cultural development, is declared the
winner.
During their turn, the player must manage units representing civilian
and military forces: directing units to explore the world, found new
cities, go into battle to take over other civilizations, control
production in their cities to produce new units and buildings, improve
land, handle diplomacy with other civilizations in the game, and
finally direct the civilization's growth in technology, culture, food
supply, and economics. Victory conditions can include taking over the
entire world by force, convincing the other civilizations through
diplomacy to acknowledge the player as a leader, becoming influential
with all civilizations through tourism, winning the space race to
build a colony spaceship to reach a nearby planet, or winning from
being the most powerful civilization on the globe after a set number
of turns.
The artificial intelligence (AI) in Civilization V is designed to
operate on four levels: the tactical AI controls individual units; the
operational AI oversees the entire war front; the strategic AI manages
the entire empire; and the grand strategic AI sets long-term goals and
determines how to win the game. The four levels of AI complement each
other to allow for complex and fluid AI behaviours, which will differ
from game to game.[6] Each of the AI-controlled leaders has a unique
personality, determined by a combination of 'flavors' on a ten-point
scale; however, the values may differ slightly in each game.[6] There
are 26 flavors, grouped into categories including growth, expansion,
wide strategy, military preferences, recon, naval recon, naval growth,
and development preferences.[10]
As in previous versions, cities remain the central pillar of
Civilization gameplay. A city can be founded on a desired location by
a settler unit, produced in the same way as military units, and the
city will grow in population, produce units and buildings, and
generate research, wealth and culture.[11] The city will also expand
its borders one or more tiles at a time, which is critical in claiming
territory and resources. The expansion process is automated and
directed towards the city's needs, but tiles can be bought with
gold.[6][12]
Siege warfare has been revamped. Whereas cities in previous Civ games
relied entirely on garrisoned units for defense, cities in Civ V now
defend themselves, and can attack invading units with a ranged attack
expanding two tiles outward. Cities have hit points that, if taken
down to zero, will signal the city's defeat to invading forces;
surviving an attack allows a city to recover a fraction (approximately
15%) of its hit points automatically each turn. In addition, any melee
unit loses hit points upon attacking a city, dependent upon the
strength of the city and unit. Hit points can be increased by
garrisoning a unit in the city or building defensive structures (e.g.
walls).[12]
Captured cities can be annexed, razed, or transformed into a puppet
state, each option having distinct advantages and disadvantages; for
example, puppet states will provide resources, have lower unhappiness,
and not increase the cost of cultural policies, but has reduced
science and culture yields and cannot be directly controlled, being
controlled by the A.I. instead.[13]
In this iteration of the series, tactical gameplay in combat is
encouraged in place of overwhelming numerical force, with the
introduction of new gameplay mechanisms. Most significantly, the
square grid of the world map has been replaced with a hexagonal grid,
a feature inspired by the 1994 game Panzer General, according to lead
designer Jon Shafer.[14] In addition, each hexagonal tile, including
city tiles, can accommodate only one military unit and one civilian
unit or great person at a time, forcing armies to spread out over
large areas rather than being stacked onto a single tile. This has the
effect of moving most large battles outside of the cities, and forces
increased realism in sieges, which are now most effective when
surrounding the city tile because of bonuses from flanking.[6][13]
Increased movement points, simpler transportation over water
(embarkment instead of unit transport with water vessels), ranged
attacks, and swapping of adjacent units allows for more precise
maneuvering of units.[6][13][15] There is also a balance between
ranged and melee units. Ranged units can attack melee units without
retribution, but melee units will normally destroy ranged units.
In an effort to make individual units more valuable to the player
(compared to previous games in the series), they take longer to
produce, and gain experience from defeating enemy units. At set levels
this experience can be redeemed for promotions, which provide various
bonuses for increasing their effectiveness, or to substantially heal
themselves. In a further departure from previous games, units are no
longer always destroyed if defeated in combat, taking partial damage,
which can be healed at various rates depending on their type,
location, and promotions earned. However, healthy units can still be
completely destroyed in a single engagement if the opposing unit is
much stronger.[16]
Special "Great Person" units are still present in the game, providing
special bonuses to the civilization that births them, with each named
after a historic figure such as Albert Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci.
Great people come in several varieties, and those available in the
base game can be consumed to produce one of three effects: start a
golden age, build a unique terrain improvement, or perform a unique
special ability. For example, a Great General can create a 'Citadel'
(a strong fort with the ability to inflict damage on nearby enemy
units), or increase the combat strength of nearby friendly units (this
is the only ability that does not require the consumption of the
unit). With the exception of Great Prophets in the expansion sets,
capturing a Great Person destroys him or her. Many Great People in the
game have bonuses linked to the special ability of the Civilization;
for example, one of Mongolia's special abilities is to increase the
movement rate of great generals from 2 to 5 and rename them into
"Khans".
The technology trading that occurred in previous titles in the series
has been removed in favor of joint technological ventures. Two
civilizations at peace can form a research agreement, which for an
initial investment of gold provides both a certain amount of science
so long as they remain at peace.[17] Prior to the 1.0.1.332 PC version
of the game, research agreements provided both parties with a random
unknown technology after a set number of turns of uninterrupted
peaceful relations. It is possible for a civilization to sign a
research agreement for the sole purpose of getting an enemy to spend
money which could be used for other purposes; AI civilizations are
programmed to sometimes use this tactic before declaring war.[18]
British actor W. Morgan Sheppard provides the narration for the
opening cinematics to the original game and its expansion packs, the
quotations at the discovery of new technologies and the building of
landmarks, and the introduction of the player's chosen civilization at
the start of each new game.[19]
City-states[edit]
City-states, a feature new to the series, are minor civilizations that
can be interacted with, but are incapable of achieving victory. Unlike
major powers, they may expand in territory but they never establish
new cities, although they can conquer other cities with military
units. In addition to outright conquest, major civilizations have the
option to befriend city-states, via bribery or services, for bonuses
such as resources and units; these bonuses increase as players advance
to new eras. In the Brave New World expansion pack, being allied with
city-states grants players additional delegates in the World Congress
starting in the Industrial Era. There are three types of city-state in
the base game, each with different personalities and bonuses:
maritime, cultured, and militaristic. Two additional city-state types
(mercantile and religious) were added in the Gods & Kings
expansion pack to complement new gameplay mechanics. A city-state has
the potential to play a prominent role in diplomacy among larger
civilizations, as well as make specific requests and grant
rewards.[20]
Culture system[edit]
In a change to the culture beans system, in Civilization V players
have the ability to purchase social policies with earned culture.[21]
These social policies are made up of ten separate trees; prior to the
Brave New World expansion pack, filling out five of the ten trees was
a requirement to win a cultural victory. These policies replace the
"Civics" government system of Civilization IV; the main difference is
that the player had to switch out of old civics to adopt a new one,
while social policies are cumulative bonuses.[22]
According to Jon Shafer, "With the policies system, we wanted to keep
the feel of mixing and matching to construct one's government that was
part of Civ IV, but we also wanted to instill a sense of forward
momentum. Rather than having to switch out of one policy to adopt
another, the player builds upon the policies already unlocked. The
thought process we want to promote is 'What cool new effect do I
want?' rather than the feeling of needing to perform detailed analysis
to determine if switching is a good idea."[22]
Victory[edit]
As in previous games, there are multiple ways to achieve victory in
addition to military conquest. The player may focus on scientific
research and become the first to assemble and launch a spaceship,
winning a Space Race victory. Diplomatic victory requires support from
other civilizations and city-states in the United Nations. In the
revamped culture system of Civilization V that consists of social
policy "trees", the cultural victory prior to the Brave New World
expansion pack involves filling out five of the ten "trees" and
completing the Utopia project (reminiscent of the Ascent to
Transcendence secret project in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri).[13]
World domination is an option, but the victory condition has been
simplified compared to previous games in the series. Rather than
completely destroying the other civilizations, the last player who
controls their original capital wins by conquest.[23] Since the Brave
New World expansion pack, you must control all original capitals
(including your own) in order to win by Domination. The player can
also win by having the highest score at the year 2050 AD; all victory
conditions can, however, be disabled. This and other settings, for
example turning off city razing, can be modified in the "advanced
setup" screen while setting up a game.
Civilizations[edit]
There are 18 playable civilizations available in the standard retail
version of Civilization V, with 7 DLC civilizations and a further 18
added by the two expansions; leading to a total of 43. The player
chooses a civilization and assumes the role of its leader, based on
prominent historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte. Each leader
of a civilization has a combination of two unique units, improvements,
or buildings; (e.g. Arabia has the camel archer which replaces the
standard knight unit, and the bazaar which replaces the market). In
addition to the two unique units, improvements, or buildings, there is
a unique ability (e.g. Bushido for Japan, which causes their units to
still do maximum damage even when damaged themselves, and gives 1
culture from each Fishing Boat and 2 culture from each Atoll). The
player is able to interact with the leaders of other civilizations via
the diplomacy screen, accessed through clicking on a city of that
civilization, or through the diplomacy button at the top of the
screen, which features — for the first time in the
series — fully animated leaders that speak their native
languages.[5][6] For instance, Augustus Caesar speaks in his native
Latin and Montezuma speaks in his native Nahuatl. According to Émile
Khordoc, who voiced Augustus Caesar, the voices for the leaders were
recorded in early 2009, approximately a year and a half before the
release of the game.[24]
Development[edit]
Firaxis began work on Civilization V sometime in 2007.[25] Initially,
the team working on the game consisted of seven artists led by Jon
Shafer; this team gradually grew to 56 members.[26] For initial tests
of gameplay ideas, the team used the Civilization IV game engine
(Gamebryo), while a new graphics engine was built from the ground up;
this new engine, called LORE, came online only 18 months prior to the
game's release.[26] Teams working on different aspects of the game
were located close to each other, which enabled the developers to
solve some of the issues they were facing in a timely manner.[26]
According to producer Dennis Shirk, the move to one unit per tile had
a great impact on the game's core systems, such as forcing them to
create an entirely new AI system and the lack of emphasis on the
game's later eras.[27] The increased emphasis of the game's new
features also meant that the developers had to trim some of the
systems that existed in previous Civilization games.[28] Other
challenges that faced the developers included the lack of members
working on the multiplayer and the loss of critical team members.[29]
After approximately 3 years and 3 months of development,[26] the game
was finally released on September 21, 2010.
LORE[edit]
LORE (Low Overhead Rendering Engine) is the name of the graphics
engine used by Civilization V (and its successor Civilization: Beyond
Earth). There was a presentation of LORE at the GDC2011. While
Direct3D 11 was still in alpha stage, Firaxis decided to design the
rendering engine natively for the Direct3D 11 architecture, and then
map backwards to Direct3D 9. This approach shaped up as being that
advantageous, that Civilization V officially supports AMD's
proprietary Mantle low-level rendering API, which is stateless, as are
Vulkan and Direct3D 12. With Vulkan being heavily based upon Mantle,
it should be relatively easy to also include an Vulkan rendering path,
but no such announcements have been made by Firaxis.
A major addition to the Direct3D 11 API was Tessellation and
Civilization V contains one of the most complex terrain systems ever
made. The rendering engine uses the GPU to ray-trace and anti-alias
shadows.
The native ports to OS X (November 23, 2010) and Linux (June 10, 2014)
use an OpenGL rendering path.
Patches[edit]
As of November 21, 2012[update], the Windows and OS X versions of
Civilization V have had regular patches since being released, which
included major gameplay alterations, numerous crash fixes, and other
changes.[30][31][32][33][34][35] Patch support for OS X has often been
delayed, with some patches being released more than a month after
their Windows counterparts.[36][37][38]
Based on released source code[39] the game's community continues the
support for the game where Firaxis left as community patch
project.[40][41]
Release[edit]
2K Games released Civilization V and its demo on September 21,
2010,[3][42] It is distributed through retail and the Steam content
delivery system. The OS X version was released on November 23,
2010,[4] and the Linux/SteamOS version was released on June 10,
2014.[43] In conjunction with its release, the State of Maryland,
where Meier and Firaxis are based, named September 21, 2010, as "Sid
Meier's Civilization V Day", in part due to Meier's success and for
him "continuing a tradition of developing the talent and creativity of
future generations".[44]
A special edition of Civilization V was also set for worldwide release
on the same day as the standard edition. The package consists of a
176-page artbook, a "behind-the-scenes" DVD at Firaxis, two-CD game
soundtrack selections, and five metal figurines of in-game units, as
well as the game itself.[45]
A Game of the Year edition was released on September 27, 2011. It
includes all four of the "Cradle of Civilization" map packs, as well
as some of the new civilizations (Babylon, Spain, Inca, and
Polynesia), their respective scenarios, and the official digital
soundtrack. However, the "Explorer's Map Pack", "Civilization and
Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings", "Civilization and Scenario Pack
- Korea" and "Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack" are not
included.[46]
A Gold edition was released on February 12, 2013. It includes all
"Cradle of Civilization" map packs, the "Explorer's Map Pack", the
"Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack", all the DLC
civilizations and the Gods & Kings expansion pack.[47]
A Complete edition was released on February 4, 2014. It includes both
expansions and all the DLC packs.[48]
Additional content[edit]
Besides the 18 civilizations available in the standard retail version,
additional civilizations can be downloaded.[49][50] Babylon under
Nebuchadnezzar II was announced as a bonus civilization included in
the Steam and Direct2Drive Digital Deluxe Editions,[49][51] and later
offered for all on October 25, 2010.[52] Mongolia under Genghis Khan
as well as a Mongolian themed scenario was added with a free update on
October 25, 2010.[52]
Spain, under Isabella, and the Inca Empire, under Pachacuti, as well
as a similarly themed scenario were offered as the first "Double
Civilization and Scenario Pack" on December 16, 2010.[53] The
"Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia" was released on March 3,
2011, and adds the Polynesian Empire under Kamehameha I.[54] The
"Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark" was released on May 3, 2011,
and features the Danish civilization under Harald Bluetooth, similar
to the Viking civilization from previous games.[55] On August 11,
2011, the "Civilization and Scenario Pack: Korea" was released
featuring the Korean civilization under Sejong the Great.[56]
On August 11, 2011, a "Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack" was
released adding three new ancient wonders – The Temple of Artemis,
The Statue of Zeus, and The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus – as well as
a scenario based around the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This
was the first time that new wonders were added as DLC.[56]
Additionally, several downloadable map packs were offered as a
pre-order bonus from various retailers: Steam, "Cradle of
Civilization: Mesopotamia"; Amazon.com, "Cradle of Civilization:
Asia"; Gamestop and Play.com, "Cradle of Civilization: The
Mediterranean"; and "Cradle of Civilization: The Americas." All four
maps were later made available for purchase through Steam. Coinciding
with the release of the "Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark" on
May 3, 2011, an "Explorers Map Pack" was released featuring map types
inspired by real-world locations like the Amazon and Bering
Strait.[55]
In late 2012 the developers released the source code of the core game
part to support the modding community.[39][41] Mods may be downloaded
via the Steam Workshop for the Windows version.[57] As of July 2013,
the OS X version does not officially support mods, although working
around and moving files from and to certain folders will enable
them.[58]
An independently-developed software known as Giant Multiplayer Robot
makes use of the hotseat multiplayer mode in Civilization V to mimic
the play-by-email functionality that was present in previous
Civilization series titles.[59]
Expansion packs[edit]
Gods & Kings[edit]
Main article: Civilization V: Gods & Kings
On February 16, 2012, an expansion pack titled Gods & Kings was
announced. It was released on June 19, 2012, in North America, and
June 22 in the rest of the world. The expansion added new features to
the base game such as religion, espionage, three new scenarios, an
expanded technology tree, several new units, new religious and
mercantile city states, nine new wonders and nine new playable
civilizations: Austria, Byzantium, Carthage, the Celts, Ethiopia, the
Huns, the Maya, the Netherlands, and Sweden.[9] Additionally, Spain,
previously available only as DLC in Civilization V, is included with
the expansion.[60]
Brave New World[edit]
Main article: Civilization V: Brave New World
On March 15, 2013, an expansion pack titled Brave New World was
announced and released in North America on July 9, 2013, and
internationally on July 12.[61][62] The expansion added new features
to the base game such as international trade routes, World Congress,
tourism, Great Works, two new scenarios, eight new wonders, several
new units and nine new civilizations: Assyria, Brazil, Indonesia,
Morocco, Poland, Portugal, the Shoshone, Venice, and the Zulus.
Additionally, Ethiopia, previously available in the first expansion
pack, is included with the expansion.[63]
Reception[edit]

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator
Score

GameRankings
89.17% (49 reviews)[64]

Metacritic
90/100 (70 reviews)[67]

Review scores

Publication
Score

1UP.com
C[71]

Eurogamer
8/10[73]

G4
5/5[66]

Game Informer
9.75/10[74]

GameSpot
9.0/10[72]

GameTrailers
9.4/10[65]

IGN
9.0/10[68]

PC Gamer (US)
93/100[69]

Civilization V received critical acclaim, achieving a Metacritic score
of 90/100 after 70 reviews[67] and 89.17% after 49 reviews in
GameRankings.[64]
G4TV gave it 5 out of 5, describing it as a "fantastic turn-based
strategy game... In many ways... the best representation of the series
and certainly the most accessible for new and old players alike",
adding that the "diplomatic model is anemic" and describing the AI as
"fairly average."[66] IGN gave the game an "Outstanding 9.0", saying
"This is the first Civilization for PC that is worth just about every
person’s time," but also criticizing the AI for being too aggressive
and noting that players who played Civilization IV may miss the civics
and religion features.[68] GameSpot praised the game's addictiveness,
claiming it to be "yet another glistening example of turn-based bliss
that will keep you up long past your bedtime".[72]
Some reviews were less positive, with the most common criticisms being
directed at the game's artificial intelligence. 1UP.com says that the
game features an "A.I. that can't play the game," and noted that the
game has "some nice innovations that will make it hard to go back to
Civilization IV. But in other ways, it's a disappointment that needs a
lot more work."[75] Eurogamer gave the game an 8/10 despite their
criticism that "the AI in Civ V is still curiously terrible,"[76]
while GameShark gave the game a B+ while stating that "the computer
opponents are ill equipped for the military side of things."[77] Other
complaints include criticism of the game's speed, which is
approximately 5 hours at "normal" game pace.
In an update on a Kickstarter project, lead designer Jon Shafer
himself criticised some of the game's shortcomings. For the game's
diplomatic system, he wrote that AI opponents "were completely
enslaved to their gameplay situation, and as a result they appeared
random." As for the strategic AI, Shafer said although he was "very
proud" of his code, ultimately he felt "it really wasn't very good"
since the AI "floated from one 'strategy' to another without any real
cohesion behind [its] decisions."[78]
Shafer mentioned that the game's global happiness mechanic "strongly
encouraged [players] to stay small and the penalties for not obliging
with this demand were quite harsh. It was virtually impossible to
build the large, sprawling empires which had always been a feature in
the series." On the removal of sliders, he wrote that "players
were...permanently locked into their past economic choices." According
to Shafer, the game's "maps wasn't really suited for" one unit per
tile and that "the congestion caused by [one unit per tile] also
impacted other parts of the game." In the end, he concluded that some
of the game's problems "were all due to decisions I made with the
design."[78]